Order Closing Non-turkish Schools Affect 14,000 Pupils in Turkey

January 1, 1924

Constantinple (Apr. 14)

14,000 pupils were left on the streets, without schools or guardianship, as a result of the order of the Kemel Pasha government, closing the non-Turkish schools in Turkey. The order has already affected 38 schools conducted by foreign societies, especially by French monks and Christian missionaries.

The official reason that the Turkish authorities gave for closing the schools was that, in spite of warning against doing so, the schools continued to exhibit their religious emblems and continued their daily prayer service.